The beauty of God’s grace is immeasurable. In Ephesians 1:8, Paul wrote that in Christ God has lavished grace upon us. This is not just a teaspoon of grace given to God’s redeemed. This is abundant grace. As former rebels against God we all carry the guilt of our former lives before Christ. But this is a weight that God does not intend for His children to carry. 

Part of this lavish grace is that we are set free from the shackles of our past sins. The main character, Christian, in John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress displays this reality in great detail. Before his sins were forgiven, Christian carried an extremely heavy bag on his back that was representative of his burdens over sin. When Christian finally made his way to Christ, his burden fell from his back and tumbled down the hill out of his sight. This is the beauty of grace. 

In Christ, our burden’s and grief over past sins is gone. Psalm 103:12 says that God casts our sinful pasts as far as the east is from the west. Yet so many believers who are set free from their past spend much time gazing behind in attempts to locate the burdens that God separated from them. Instead of running forward in the newness of Christ, they remain stuck in place, acting as if they are still under the weight of sin. Oh how easily we forget the beauty of His grace.

We all like the Apostle Paul can lament that we were worthy of the title ‘Chief of sinners’ as we recount our many transgressions. And looking back at our lives before Christ can at times become paralyzing as we sink lower into the heartbreak and guilt of the sinful ways that we once walked in. This is a tool of Satan, to cause Christians to forget the abundance of grace God has bestowed upon them in Christ, and to become stuck in regrets of the past. For the redeemed in Christ, there is no more guilt or shame. Because they are literally not the same person as they once were. 

“Fear not, for you will not be ashamed; be not confounded, for you will not be disgraced; for you will forget the shame of your youth, and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more.” Isaiah 54:4.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” 2 Corinthians 5:17.

“He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.” Micah 7:19.

If God has cast our former sins into the depths, then what right do we have to look back to them in guilt? To His elect, Christ has made them into literal new creations. Ezekiel 36 tells us that God has given the Christian a new heart that is filled with new desires that reflect Christ. In Christ, the old nature is gone and He has replaced it with a new nature that desires His ways. 

Yes, when we think back to our sins before Christ there is hurt and regret. But Jesus took those sins to the cross and paid the price for them. In Jesus, there is no more condemnation! In Christ, there is no more shame. In Christ, there is no more guilt. Our sins have been paid for in full and crucified with Christ our Savior. Christian, realize that you are not the same person as you were before. You have been made new and completely different in Christ. You are redeemed and washed clean in His blood. In Christ, you are spotless and without blemish (Song of Songs 4:7). Therefore there is no need to look back except to glory in His amazing grace and marvel at the new nature that He has given you.

““Forget the former things, do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. Isaiah 43:18-19.

“Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them.” Isaiah 42:9.

This is abundant, lavish grace. God is doing a work in all of His children, that is on going and supernatural. Consider for a moment the stars in the night sky. Where do they go in the day time? They don’t go anywhere, but we cannot see them for all the light. It is only against the black backdrop of night that the stars shine so brightly. In like manner, our former shame only serves to magnify the grace of God in our lives. The blackness of our former sins only serve to make His grace more precious to us who are now made new through the shed blood of Jesus Christ.

As we look back to our former lives without Christ, the only tears that should flow are tears of joy regarding the work of Jesus in our lives. And because we are so moved by His grace towards us, we now strive to live our lives to make Him known! Paul Washer was once asked how he is so devoted to Christ with such passion and zeal to make Him known. His answer was, “Because He saved me!” 

How precious is your salvation? How amazed by grace and by your own redemption are you? If someone professes Christ as Lord yet have no desire to walk in His ways, no repulsion over their past sins, and no desire to make Him known, then that person has no understanding of grace. The abundant grace of God produces a heart of extreme gratitude in believers. And this grace causes believer to forget the former things and strain forward to the glory that lies ahead.

“Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,” Philippians 3:13.

In Christ, our past shames become trophies of His grace. Our guilts become a testimony of His amazing grace. And our hurts become beautiful scars that point to the nail scared hands and feet of Jesus, who bore the guilt, shame, and pain of our sins. It is no longer ours to carry, our sins have been crucified with Christ. And He has cast them as far as the east is from the west. We are new creations in Christ, no longer chained to our former ways, but set free from our burdens of sin so that we may run forward in the freedom and joy of our Lord. This is one of the many beauties of God’s grace.

“Grace, Grace, God’s Grace. Grace that will pardon and cleanse within. Grace, Grace, God’s Grace.

Grace that is greater than all our sin.”

Jesus spoke more harshly to religious people than to pagans when He walked the earth. The reason for this is that the religious had been exposed to the light of God’s word and to the teachings and miracles of Christ Himself. Yet they still refused to believe. Although they knew God’s word, they did not believe in Jesus of whom Moses and the prophets had written of in the Torah. Instead of obeying Christ, they honored and followed their own man made traditions. 

“He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?” Matthew 15:3.

It’s easy for us in our 21st century context to read about the tradition loving Pharisees and to condemn them as to how they could be so blind. How could they read the living word of God and completely ignore it’s commands and exchange them for their own man made traditions? It can be easy for us to scoff at these traditionalists in the Scripture and praise God that we are not like them. But just like the Pharisees, even in our day, many Christians have become blind to their neglect of scripture and their love of their own traditions.

The scriptures tell us that the only way that a person can be saved is that they repent of their sins and place their faith in Jesus Christ. Repentance is not just a turning from our sins, but also to have an internal brokenness over them. And that brokenness is not something that we fabricate or muster up within ourselves, it is a work of God changing our hearts to Christ. This heart change is something that God must first do in us. Our genuine repentance is then the overflow of His work in us. And our faith and believe flow from the regenerate heart of the believer. 

“The time is come the Kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe.” Mark 1:15.

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 36:26.

Jesus as well as the Apostles preached repentance and faith as the only means to salvation all throughout the scriptures. However, there are many pulpits today that preach faithfully on the love of God, to the neglect of preaching repentance and faith. And in place of these Biblical calls, they replace the true means of salvation with the sinners prayer. 

Countless Baptist church websites will even have a link with a title like, “How Can I Be Saved?” And once this link is clicked on, it goes to a page that has a sinners prayer, prompting the person to merely ask Jesus into their hearts. At the end of many churches services, Pastors will ask people to bow their heads and close their eyes and pray the sinners prayer. Then the pastor will ask those who prayed the prayer to raise their hands before he bids them a warm welcome into the family of God. All the while, biblical repentance has not been explained.

I once preached in a church where it was common to end the service with a sinners prayer. I explained to the leadership that I would not recite such a prayer. One of the leaders then said to me, “But how will we know who has been saved?” And I responded, “You will know when their lives begin to change.” The unbiblical tradition of the sinners prayer is so popular today because preachers do not patiently wait to see the fruits of God’s work and instead, they demand immediate results that only God is privy to.  

Just like the Pharisees, they have neglected the word of God in favor of their own traditions. 

Another example our modern day traditions replacing the commands of scripture can be seen in the ecclesiastical structure of many churches. 1 Timothy, Titus, as well as the book of Acts make it clear that God has a certain way that He has commanded the church to be structured. 

The first thing that Paul charged Titus to do when he was planting churches on the Island of Crete is to raise up spiritual leaders called Elders. Elders are men that have been gifted by God to preach and teach the Word of truth. There are some churches today that would say that the pastor is the elder and no other elders are needed. But the scriptures clearly say that elders (plural) are to be appointed in every church. This does not mean a single elder in each church.

“Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust.” Acts 14:23.

A great majority of churches today have exchanged the office of elder for deacon boards. The scriptures do command the church to have deacons. But the deacons job description given in 1 Timothy 3 is not to be spiritual leaders of the church, but rather servants to the church. In neglecting to implement elders in a church, pastors stray from the task of raising up men who are able to proclaim and preach the Gospel and instead, rely on unqualified men to lead the church. 

Just like the Pharisees, they have neglected the word of God in favor of their own traditions. 

One more example of how our current Christian culture gravitates towards tradition can be seen in many Christian homes. In both the Old and New Testaments, God commands men to disciple their children and their wives on a daily basis through family scripture reading and prayer.

“And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” Deuteronomy 6:6-9.

“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her to sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word,” Ephesians 5:25-26.

This is not a mere suggestion regarding how a Christian man should lead his family, it is a command from God. Yet in many Christian homes today, these commands are exchanged for the tradition of more time in front of the television or social media scrolling. 

Just like the Pharisees, they have neglected the word of God in favor of their own traditions. 

You see, we cannot be so quick to wag our fingers at the traditional fallacies of the Pharisees unless we have first given a close examination to our own sins. We are all prone to fall into the trap of traditionalism, just like the religious elite of Jesus day. The difference between true believers and the Pharisees is not seen in our sinlessness. Because we all have blind spots and fall short. Rather, the difference is seen in our repentance once those blind spots have been identified. 

The Pharisees justified their traditions. The question we must ask is are we like the Pharisees? Will we ardently defend the religious traditions that we have clung to for so long? Will we make excuses for them as a way to continue to cling to them? Or will we turn from the error of our ways, and run to the commands of Christ? It is easy for us to become modern day Pharisees who are blind to our traditional strongholds. And it is the word of Christ that has the power to break them and change us more into His great image.

Imagine for a moment that you go to the doctor for your yearly check up. Once all of your test results have come in, you learn that you have cancer. The news could not be worse. However, the doctor tells you that there is hope. But only if you make some major changes to your lifestyle. Radical changes. Your diet must change and you must say goodbye to most of the junk foods that you love. Your daily schedule must change, where now you must prioritize exercise above lesser hobbies. And you must take many different medications and supplements each day to kickstart your body’s immunities. 

Now that you have the knowledge that there is hope for a full recovery, you would be crazy not to follow the doctor’s advice. No sacrifice or lifestyle alteration would be too much given the fact that you are facing certain death if changes are not made. You would waste no time getting rid of the things that were contributing to your cancer, and begin to implement in their place the things that could save your life. Your whole life going forward would be one that is lived in light of the good news of a cure that you had received.

Years later after you have followed the doctor’s orders and have been completely cured, you still live the lifestyle prescribed by the doctor. Because you have grow to love it now and you can see the benefits of living a healthy lifestyle. And due to the fact that these major changes saved your life, you would likely become an advocate, telling others the dangers of your former practices of life and how your new life can also be a means to the salvation of others. 

In like manner, so many professing Christians have received the good news of the Gospel. They know that apart from Christ, they are sinful transgressors against a Holy God who stand eternally separated and condemned to Hell. But in Christ, they have been justified by His shed blood and have been adopted into God’s family. As a result, the true believer now lives their life in light of the Gospel and for the glory of Christ who has saved them. 

The question that many believers need to ask themselves is, “What am I currently living my life for?” As one theologian said, “If Christ is risen, then nothing else matters.” Are you living your lives in light of eternity? Or have you casually accepted a Jesus that saves yet brings no internal change? And just to be clear, if your encounter with Jesus has brought little to no change in your life, then you did not meet Jesus. Because Jesus does not just bring salvation, He brings change.

“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Matthew 6:33.

Todd Friel once quipped, “God is not suppose to be at the top of our list of priorities. He is suppose to be the paper on which all of our priorities are listed.” In other words, everything we do in life is to be done with the glory of God in mind. As believers, we have been given new hearts which now desire God. And an overflowing of that new heart is that our external actions are affected. Where when once sought after our own ways and strived to attain the desires of our flesh, we now desire the Kingdom of God and the righteousness of Christ. The call for believers to seek first the Kingdom of God is more than just a command. It is now the passion of the one who has been truly converted to Christ. 

A person does not have to change when they come to faith in Christ. Rather, they now desire change. They want to change. The sins that they once craved are now despised by the believer. And they long to grow more in their likeness to Christ. Not only that, but prayer becomes a necessity in the life of believers. Radical changes begin to take place in the one who has tasted the grace of God in Christ. And priorities begin to change as well.

Let me ask a question to those who profess faith in Jesus. What are you living for? What drives you daily? What consumes your thoughts? Is it you job? Is it your hobbies? Is it your relationships? Or are you pursing Christ in all of these things?

For example, do you see your marriage first and foremost as a means to grow in Christ likeness and glorify Him? If so, do you prioritized prayer and time in the word with your spouse? Are you seeking to love them as a mirror image of the love between Christ and His church? If you are not doing these things, then your marriage is not centered upon Christ and His glory.

How about your hobbies? Is your means of recreation creating avenues for you to become more like Christ and bring Him glory? Are they opening up doors for you to share the Gospel with others who share the same interests? If the answer is no, then your hobby may bring satisfaction to you, but it is not bringing glory to Christ. 

What about your job? Granted, not all areas of employment allow for open Gospel proclamation. But this bleeds over into how we see our finances. How are you using the money that you earn from you job to prioritize the Kingdom of God? Do you tithe to your church regularly? Do you attempt as best you can to support missional efforts in reaching the lost? If the answer is no, then your job is not a means to glorify Christ. 

“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31

If we have truly been saved, then our lives and our loves reflect that change. We no longer love what displeases Christ, but now we love what is pleasing to Him. As believers, we no longer yearn for the desires of our flesh, but now in Christ we long for the righteousness of Christ in our lives. And this change plays out in our finances, our marriages, our hobbies, and in every area of our lives. Christ is not the believers top priority. Rather, He is the focus of all of their priorities. 

“Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!” 2 Corinthians 13:5.

We live in a self centered society. Everything must revolve around man’s preferences and live up to his self imposed expectations. Mankind sees itself as the measure of what is and what should be in all things. And if something or someone does not meet man’s expectations, it’s become acceptable to bail and seek out greener pastures. 

We see this lack of commitment commonly in marriages, where when the going gets tough, it’s time to push the eject button and call it quits. The old saying, ‘My way or the highway’ sums it up quite well. We live in a generation that has a serious problem with commitment of any kind. And this is lack of commitment mentality is beginning to bleed into the church. 

In the last few years, statistics show that many churches are increasing in their Sunday morning attendance, but decreasing in members. Many people attend churches for years without officially joining the church as members. Others make a practice of church hopping, or floating from one church to another. Sadly we have begun to look at church through the lens of consumerism rather than seeing it as the bride of Christ on earth that we are to commit our lives to.

And the excuses are many when some are pressed as to why they do not commit to a local church. Some people cite problems with a church that keeps them from fully committing. However, unless the full council of God’s word is not being preached or gross instances of heresy are being committed, many of these problems fall under the category of personal preferences or secondary issues. No church is perfect, and there is not a church on earth that is going to please everyone. 

Others will attempt to sound very pious and state that they are part of God’s ‘Universal Church’ and that local church membership is not found in scripture. This is a good place to start listing the reasons why this lack of commitment to the local church is so dangerous and worldly minded. Commitment to a local church is not only biblical, but it is necessary for us to experience the fullness of God’s blessings to believers.

To begin with, the writer of Hebrews tells us that we are to submit ourselves to the spiritual oversight of church elders. These are men that the Lord has appointed to guard and watch over the souls of the flock. However if someone has not committed themselves to a local church in membership, then they are not really part of that flock. They have not submitted their lives to any spiritual authority. Rather, they are just sideline spectators.

“Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.” Hebrews 13:17.

Committing yourself to a Christ centered local church is submitting your soul to the watch of spiritual leaders that can come along side of you and speak into your life.  If you never join and commit your life to a local body of believers, then you neglect the clear command from scripture to place yourself under spiritual authority. 

Secondly, if you never commit to a local church, you rob yourself of the joy in doing life with other believers. It is a fine thing to date your someone. But the joy found in the commitment of a lifetime of marriage far outweighs the courtship phase. In the commitment of marriage, man and woman become a family. They grow deeper in their relationship and intimacy with one another. And they learn to trust each other as they journey through the joys and trials of life together.

Church membership is a way of saying to others in that local assembly, “I am committing myself to do life and ministry with you.’ It is a way of saying that through the ups and the downs, the good and the bad, I am going to walk with this body of believers as a spiritual family. And that commitment is not contingent upon us getting our way, or having or personal preferences met. 

And for those that are waiting until they find a church that meets all of their personal expectations, I would say this. Aren’t you glad Christ did not wait until you were perfect before extending His grace and mercy to you? It takes no effort at all to sit in a church as a sideline critic. 

It takes no effort to grumble and complain about every little thing that we don’t agree with. But it takes the love of Christ in a person to overlook secondary differences of opinion, and to join together unified in the primaries of the Gospel. We can so easily become like the pharisees and place ourselves in the seat of judgement over others who do not conform to our preferences and opinions. Instead of realizing that we are all fallen, imperfect sinners in need of grace. Doing life joined together with our eyes not on ourselves, but on Christ is one of the great blessings of church membership.

No church is perfect. And granted, if you are in a church that is not focused on Christ or faulty in proclaiming the full council of the truth of His word, then you should absolutely not join that local body. But there are many churches in our nation that are boldly proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And though they do it imperfectly, as Charles Spurgeon said, these churches are to believers the dearest place on earth. If you have not done so already, find a church where the truth of scripture is being proclaimed and where believers unite together in love and fellowship with their eyes fixed on Christ and His Word. And don’t just observe the church as a spectator. Commit your life to that body of believers. Don’t look for a church that will serve you. Look for a church where you can serve others. 

The most important question that a person could ever ponder is this, “How can I know that I am saved?” Jesus has not left us wanting when it comes to the answer to this question. The scriptures are full of telling signs of the heart that give us full assurance of the salvation that comes through Christ alone. Yet so many believers struggle with assurance of faith. The book of 1 John was written for the sole purpose of giving believers assurance of their salvation. John writes, “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.” (1 John 5:13). 

On the other side of the coin, there are many false preachers that try to give people assurance of their salvation by stripping away obedience to Christ, leaving people with an antinomian gospel which which winks at sin and disregards true repentance. If we are truly concerned with the state of our eternities, then nothing is more important than seeking the answer to this question. 

The scriptures refer to the lost person as having a heart of stone, and a person that is saved as one having a heart of flesh. “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” (Ezekiel 36:26). First we must differentiate between what is meant by a heart of stone and a heart of flesh. 

A person with a heart of stone is unaffected by their sin. They are not broken over it. They may know that what they are doing is sinful, but they love their sin more than the notion of obedience to Christ. And so they continue to walk in sin, unwilling to turn. Their sins do not grieve them, but rather entice them. The person with a heart of stone may attend church regularly and be involved in Christian external activities, but internally their hearts are resistant to obedience to Christ and His commands. There is no true sorrow over sin. Yet many will try to justify themselves as being saved in spite of continual practice of sin.

“Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.” 1 John 3:8.

The stone hearted person is the one who makes a practice of sin. A Christian can and will fall into sin. But the true believer will not be able to continually walk in their sin as an on going practice of life due to the conviction of the Holy Spirit within them. The stone hearted person does not hate their sin. Their is no conviction or remorse over sin. They love their sin. 

The Bible gives us another illustration of a person that is not saved that coincides with someone who has a heart of stone. Jesus refers to a lost person as one who is enslaved to sin.

“Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.”John 8:34.

Notice, Jesus did not say that everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Again, we know that even Christians at times fall into sin. Jesus said that the one who practices sin is a slave to sin. This is the same language that John used in 1 John 3:8. And John wrote that a person that practices sin, that is to sin with no intention of turning from it, is not of God, but of the devil. Therefore a slave to sin is one who is not saved. 

A slave is shackled to something. That which they are a slave to grips and captivates them, and they are obedient to their master. The Apostle Paul referred to himself as a slave to Christ. “Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,” (Romans 1:1). Everyone is a slave to something. You are either lost and a slave to your sins, or you are redeemed by Christ and a slave to Him. We all serve a master. We are either servants of Satan in rebellion to Christ, or we are a servant of Jesus desiring obedience to Christ. The stone hearted person is a slave to sin, while the person with a heart of flesh is a slave to Christ.

“Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?” Romans 6:16.

It is easy to tell who your master is. It is easy to tell if you have a heart of stone or a heart of flesh. Ask yourself, “Who am I serving?” Are you serving Satan following the lusts of your flesh and desiring your sin? Or are you serving Christ, hating your sin and desire more of His righteousness in your life? We can fool ourselves, but the intentions and desires of our hearts do not lie. 

What can we do if we come to realize that our hearts are stone and we desire sin more than obedience to Christ? The answer is nothing, except pray for God to change you. Man cannot change his heart of stone to a heart of flesh no more than a pig could change itself into a human. If you placed a nice juicy steak with fancy garnishes on a plate in front of a pig, and also a trough filled with dirty slop, the pig would chose the slop every time. But if you supernaturally changed that pig into a man, he would push the slop away in disgust, clean himself up, and desire the steak. 

Changing our hearts from desiring sin to desiring Christ is not something that we have the power to do. We cannot free ourselves from the shackles of enslavement to sin. We don’t have that key. Something supernatural must take place within us. If we could do it, we would not need a Savior. Only Christ can change our hearts from a heart of stone to a heart of flesh. Only Jesus can free us from enslavement to sin.

“So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”John 8:36.

King David fell into great sin, to the point where he had no joy in his salvation. David knew that he had no power to restore that joy, nor could he change the desires of his heart. He knew that God had to do something within Him. David knew that he was in sin, but realize that he could not break his desire or pattern of sin without God acting first. All David could do is cry out to God in prayer. And so he prayed for God to create in him a new and pure heart.

“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10.

To those who sincerely cry out to God, He will change their hearts. He will set them free from the prison of slavery to sin and give them a heart of flesh that is sensitive to sin. A heart of flesh is one that hates it’s sin and desires the righteousness of Christ. A person who has been given a heart of flesh prioritizes knowing God’s word so that they may walk in obedience to Jesus.

“Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.”John 14:23.

Do you love Jesus? If we say that we love Him, yet there is no desire or willingness to obey Him, then we deceive ourselves. Only a person that has been given a heart of flesh can desire obedience to Christ. And only one that desires obedience to Jesus more than their sin can be saved. If we truly believe that Jesus is the Son of God and desire to be pleasing to Him, then we will obey Him. 

“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” John 3:36.

This is why spending time daily in God’s word is a must for Christians. It is a contradiction for a person to claim to be a Christian yet spend no personal time in God’s word. The stone hearted slave to sin desires to hear more of the world, while the slave to Christ desire to read and listen to the voice of His righteous master. 

How can I know that I am saved? Examine the state of your heart. Are you immune to conviction over your sin and desiring to continually walk in it? If so, that is a strong indication that your heart is made of stone and that you are serving your master, the devil. Or are you broken over your sins, to the point where you are crying out for change you? Are you beginning to hate the sins you once cherished and desire the righteousness of Christ that you once despised? Have you now a desire for His word and a joy to know and walk in obedience to Him? If this is you, it is a good indicator that God has given you a heart of flesh and has set you from from your enslavement to sin. 

“Whoever has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me. The one who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and reveal Myself to him.” John 14:21

“Whoever does not love Me does not keep My words. The word that you hear is not My own, but it is from the Father who sent Me.” John 14:24

“Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!” 2 Corinthians 13:5

There once lived a man who was soon to be married. As a wedding gift, this man decided to carve a statue for his bride. He went to a master sculptor in order to take lessons and learn how to make the most beautiful statue. As he studied the lessons, the man thought to himself that some of the methods given to him by the master sculptor seemed difficult. And so he decided to take short cuts in crafting his statue. When the man had finally completed his statue, it looked very much like a model of himself. It was flawed and so very rough around the edges. But the man was blind to the statue’s imperfections. He loved the statue, because it looked so much like what he saw in the mirror. And the man loved himself tremendously.

One day, the master sculptor came to visit the man. Upon entering his house, he saw the statue that the man was going to give to his bride. The man proudly boasted of his creation, and began to boast of his handy work to the master. But the master sculptor was displeased at the finished product. He knew that the statue was riddled with flaws and that that it contained small cracks that would only continue to spread as time went on. 

The master knew that the man’s bride may initially love the statue, but over time the imperfections would overtake it’s beauty, ultimately causing the state to break and crumble. You see, the statue brought out beauty of the man, and was a reflection of the man. It really was not focused at all on the bride. And so because the master loved the man and his wife, he did the most loving thing that he could do. He smashed the statue into thousands of little pieces. 

The man was devastated. He was heartbroken. He had committed a great deal of time to building this statue. Everything that the man had worked for and thought he knew was now destroyed. But the master took all of the broken pieces of the man’s statue, and he began to slowly put it back together. The process was painful, because as the man watched the master work, he began to see and understand how flawed his creation had been. As the master heated the broken clay and began to remold this work of art, it was as if the man could internally feel the pain of the statue being reworked and chiseled. The rough edges eventually became smooth. And the cracks within the mold began to disappear. 

When the master was finally done, he called the man and his bride to be in to look at the rebuilt statue. It was breath taking. But it looked nothing like the statue that the man had originally built. Instead of the statue looking like the man, it looked more like the master sculptor’s son. The sculptor’s son was beautiful, without blemish or flaw., and altogether lovely. And instead of the statue reflecting the beauty of the man, strangely, it reflected and brought out the beauty of the bride. And as the man looked to the beauty of the statue throughout his life, he began to more and more like the sculptor’s son.  Whenever someone would gaze upon the new statue, it now brought much glory to the master sculptor, and the statue served as a life long reminder to the bride of the love her husband had for her. Because the statue was now rebuilt to stand the test of time.

Although allegorical in nature, this little story points us to a much greater supernatural reality. 

If it were not already obvious, God is the master sculptor, and Jesus is represented by the sculptors son. The greatest gift that God can give a man is break him. And the greatest gift that God can give to a wife is to break her husband. This brokenness pertains to wives as well. It is the nature of the sinful human heart to be self focused and to seek glory for themselves. But the Lord has called us to deny ourselves and to seek His glory first in all things. To do this requires repentance and a change in our minds and priorities. And this change cannot come about without God smashing us to pieces.

We are all fallen in sin. But the extent of our fallen nature is far greater than we could ever imagine. In the fall of Adam, mankind lost their focus. Instead of looking to God, man began to look to self. Our temporal lusts and fleshly desires become our top priorities while God lingers faintly as an afterthought. So when God truly regenerates and saves a man or a women, it always begins with breaking them. And brokenness is never pleasant at the outset. So the question I want every professing Christian to consider is, “Can their be true repentance without brokenness?” Lets go a step farther. Can their be true salvation without brokenness? 

Contemplate your own salvation for a moment. Has God ever brought you to the point of brokenness? As you heard and read the scriptures, did the sins and transgressions that you once loved begin to come to the forefront of your mind? And did you then begin to despise them? Were you brought to a sorrowful and heartbroken state of repentance before the Lord? I would argue that brokenness is an absolute prerequisite to salvation. Because God cannot make a man into a new creation without breaking him down and rebuilding him from scratch.

I love reading the Psalms, because of their honesty. In the book of Psalm, we hear the gutteral cries of the human heart. We see pain and true lament over sin. Consider King David, who was an adulterer and a murderer. When the Lord brought David’s sins before him, his repentance was not flippant. David did not turn away from his sins only to wishfully glance back at them every once in a while. David was broken. David was crushed. David’s confession was not due to his commitment to external religion. Something happened within David’s heart. Something changed his priorities and desires. David could not rejoice because his sin was ever before him. And it left David feeling as if his bones had been crushed. In Psalm 51, king David is experience suffering due to the Lord breaking his heart of stone and replacing it with a heart of flesh.

“Let me hear joy and gladness;let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.” Psalm 51:8-12.

God delights in a man or a woman that has been broken. Because beauty emerges from the ashes. Only in brokenness can true sorrow over sin come forth. Unless we despise the rebel actions that we once lived in, we can never truly desire repentance and conformity to God. 

“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” Psalm 51:17.

“The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” Psalm 34:18.

This brings us to the concept of marriage. But not just any marriage, the Christian’s marriage. Consider the town of Vanity Fair in John Bunyan’s classic allegory of the Christian life, Pilgrims Progress. Many pilgrims (or professing Christians) that were traveling the road to the Celestial City (Heaven) traveled through the town of Vanity Fair. And as they traveled, the enemies of the Good King (Jesus Christ) were selling all of their attractive wares in attempts to lure pilgrims off of the path. Although many pilgrims had started off strong in their travels to the Celestial Kingdom, the lures and sights of Vanity Fair pulled some of them off of the path. And many made the town their new home.

As Christians in the 21st century, we so often neglect to live in obedience to Christ due to the Vanity Fair that we live in. And this is most apparent within our marriages. Paul Washer once said that marriage was God’s most powerful tool of sanctification for a person. It is also the highest calling of a man in particular this side of Heaven. Christian men are not called to merely treat their wives good. Christian men are called to love their wives in an unearthly way. At the root of this calling is the idea of dying to self. This is more than a willingness to give ones life for their spouse. This is sacrificing time and prioritizing loving and leading a bride as Christ has loved and led His church. 

Even within many Christian marriages, many men are presenting their wives with proverbial statues of themselves that reflect a selfish heart. Their job, hobbies, and desire to just veg out at the end of a busy day take precedence over their duties to pray over their wives and wash them in the water of God’s word daily. As a result, the wife’s beauty takes a backseat to the man’s personal agenda. And the statue that is the man’s marriage reflects his personal desires rather than obedience to Christ.

As Christian men, we know (or should know) passages of scripture such as Ephesians chapter 5 like the back of our hands. We know that God has commanded us to lead our wives spiritually. But it is more common than not for this practice to be completely neglected. And the excuses are aplenty. “Pastor I just don’t have enough hours in the day.” Or “I don’t know how to do this.” But we always make time for the things that we love. And we always find ways to do the things that we are passionate about. 

Men, the greatest gift you can give to your wife is to lead her as Christ has called you to do. The greatest gift that you can give your family is a new statue that reflects Jesus Christ more than your desk calendar. Our mindset should never be, “I don’t have time to pray and read the scriptures with my wife.” Our mindset should be, “I can’t afford not to pray and read the scriptures with my wife.” It’s not that Christian men don’t have time. We have to make time.

So how do we do this? It is utterly impossible outside of the power of Christ. In your own power, you will always fail. Start by praying that God would give you a heart for Him. Pray for it daily. Cry out to God with the passion of King David. But be warned, this is a dangerous prayer. Because God will give you what you sincerely ask for. And true repentance always begins with a brokenness over sin and neglected obedience. When God changes a man, he breaks down everything that he was, so that he may build him back in the image of His Son. 

Then being obedient to lead, pray over, and wash your wife in the Word are really simple after the brokenness occurs. God replaces the sinful heart of indifference with a heart to be a man. He gives the new man a heart that desires obedience to Christ. God made man, and only God can define what makes a man. And according to His word, a Godly man is one what prioritizes the spiritual well being of his wife over anything else. True love is seen in conforming to the commands and ways of Christ. 

And in this heart change, as you walk in obedience putting the spiritual needs of your wife first, something beautiful will happen. The love that you have for your wife will actually begin to increase day by day. When a husband and wife spend daily time together in prayer and reading the word of God. After years of marriage, Dr. Martyn Lloyd Jones wrote this letter to his wife Bethan;

“My dear Bethan, 

         As I have told you many, many times, the passing of the years does nothing but deepen and intensify my love for you.  When I think of those days in London in 1925 and ’26, when I thought that no greater love was possible, I could laugh.  But honestly, during this last year I had come to believe that it was not possible for a man to love his wife more than I loved you.  And yet I see that there is no end to love, and that it is still true that “absence makes the heart grow fonder.”  I am quite certain that there is no lover, anywhere, writing to his girl who is quite as mad about her as I am.“

This is not the writings of a newly wed man. This is a profession of love from a man that has led his wife after Christ. And he attests to the fact that his love only intensifies as the years pass by. You see, the key to marital bliss is Christ! The key to a love that grows is Christ! These are the feelings of a man captivated by leading his wife after Christ. Through prayer and time together in God’s word, the husband begins be conformed more and more into the image of Jesus. And the beauty of his bride shines through as he washes her daily in the transforming water of the word. 

The command for men to love their wives in an Ephesians 5 kind of way is not given to burden anyone. Rather, it is the greatest blessing that God can give a husband and wife. Pray for God to shatter the selfish and sinful parts of you men, and allow Him to rebuild as a man that reflects Christ in how he leads and loves his bride. Pray daily over your bride and wash her with the sanctifying waters of God’s word. Prioritize this over everything. Give her less of you, and more of Christ.

This morning the Southern Baptist Convention disfellowshipped five churches due to their affirmation of women preachers. New Faith Mission Ministry in Griffin, Georgia, St. Timothy’s Christian Baptist in Baltimore, Maryland, Calvary Baptist in Jackson, Mississippi, Fern Creek Baptist in Louisville, Kentucky, and Rick Warren’s church Saddleback were deemed to be not in friendly cooperation with the SBC. The vote took place yesterday during one of the afternoon sessions, and the results read this morning were overwhelmingly against the notion of allowing women preachers in the SBC. This is a step in the right direction for the SBC. And we should praise the Lord for every little victory that brings the convention into closer alignment with His Word.

As Christians, we see in scripture that there are primary issues that are non-negociables, such as the deity of Christ, the doctrine of the Trinity, and the resurrection of Jesus, just to name a few. Primary issues separate Christians from false believers. All Christians must be unified in primary issue of the faith, or they are apostates who are outside of the Kingdom of God.

Then there are secondary issues of our faith. Secondary issues are things in scripture that believers can agree to disagree on. They are areas of scripture that are not crystal clear, and leave room for Christians to hold differing views. One example of a secondary issue is in the realm of eschatology, which is the study of end times. Another secondary issue is how a family chooses to educate their children. Yet another example of a secondary issue pertains to the topic of spiritual gifts. Also mode of baptism,(pedo-baptism or credo-baptism) is a secondary issue. On these issues, Christians can agree to disagree with one another and still remain in Christian fellowship, as long as they remain united on the primary issues of our faith.

In his many attempts to defend the idea of allowing women preachers in the SBC, Rick Warren has referred to this topic as a secondary issue. The problem is that this issue of women pastors is not unclear nor is it something that can be casually overlooked. To allow women preachers is literally an assault on the authority of God’s Word and it is to pervert the image of God’s created order, which is a reflection of Christ and the church. Allow me to give an explanation.

When God created Adam and Eve, He set in place the mandate for headship. The man is to be the head of his wife, and the wife is to be his help mate. The woman was created to be the man’s complement. God created women to have gifts and strengths that the man does not have. Therefore they were made to fit together, as two halves making a whole. 

“Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” Genesis 2:18.

And in this marriage relationship, there had to be some semblance of structure or ordering. So God deemed that the man would be the head of the wife, and she would be submissive to him, as the man is submission to the Lord. 

“To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.” Genesis 3:16.

Due to the fall, God knew what the reaction would be to His ordering the man as head over the woman. In her sinful flesh, the woman would rally against this idea of male headship. Due to her sin nature, her desire would be contrary to the idea of male headship, but the man would remain as head of this relationship. 

Are we not still seeing these objections to headship today? God ordained that the man should be the head. He should be the leader. This does not devalue women in any way. This does not mean that men are better than women. Far from it. As I have stated before, men and women are equal in value and dignity, but they differ in their God given roles and function. God gave separate and distinct responsibilities to the man and woman. Yet due to sin, our world desires to blur those lines so that men can do what God called women to do and women can do what God commanded men to do.

This is happening in our world, and unfortunately it’s happening in the church.

Ephesians 5 gives us God’s reasoning for this created order. It also gives insight into what male leadership should look like. Male headship is not domineering nor is it controlling or abusive. Male headship is sacrificial, and it caries with it a weight of responsibility that is antithetical to using his God given authority in a selfish way. 

“For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.” Ephesians 5:23-24.

First we see God’s reason for male headship. It is not to elevate the man over the woman. Nor is it to devalue the worth of the woman. Rather, the headship ordering in marriage is to be a mirror image to the world of Christ and His church. It is the closest thing to a stage play that we see in scripture. 

The man is looking to Christ for guidance on how he should love His wife, and the wife submits and loves her husband as the church submits to Christ. Marriage is not about our happiness. It is about God. Marriage is the clearest picture that we have this side of Heaven of a display of the Gospel. The union of man and woman and the headship therein is God’s revelation of Himself to the world around us. 

Lest the man ask, “What does male headship look like?” Paul fleshes this mystery out even farther. Lets take a look at some of the responsibilities of male headship.

“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,” Ephesians 5:25.

How has Christ loved His church? He gave His life for her. The church is made up of sinners that were under the wrath of God due to their rebellion. There was no reprieve or penance due to them. Had Christ refused to allow men to crucify Him, the human race would have gone straight to Hell and He would be completely justified in His actions. God’s bride was wayward and disobedient. Yet He overlooked her trespasses, and Jesus fulfilled the perfect life of righteousness that is required by God for fellowship with Him. And then died in her place, for her sins. 

To husbands, Jesus says that we are to be eager to overlook our wives trespasses against us and quick to forgive, to the point of giving our lives for her. Even if she is not deserving. Why? Because this is exactly how Jesus loved you. Through marital headship the Lord mandates that men love their wives with the same level of self sacrificing unconditional love that He has love His church. This is why if a man ever tells me that he is leaving his marriage because he is not happy, it is a clear indication that he has no idea of what Biblical headship looks like. Aren’t you glad Jesus chose to love you unconditionally and give His life for your sins? Because Im sure He wasn’t ‘Happy’ about bearing the wrath of God in your place. As the appointed head, the man is to love His wife, unconditionally. 

“…that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,  so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.” Ephesians 5:26-27.

Not only is the man to love his bride unconditionally, but he is also charged with leading her spiritually. As the head, the man is to spearhead the charge in leading his wife to worship and know the Lord. He is to wash his wife in the word of God. The picture is to literally shower her with God’s word daily. The responsibility of family worship falls first and foremost upon the man, not the woman. If a man neglects to lead his wife spiritually, he is failing in his duties as head of the wife. And he will answer for not protecting her spiritually. 

The wife will not be the only one answering for her sins before the Lord. God holds the man responsible for the spiritual state of his wife. When Eve sinned in the garden and partook in the forbidden fruit, she and Adam hid from God. And the Lord did not first call Eve into account for the sin. She called Adam, because he did not lead his wife to follow the commands of God.

“But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” Genesis 3:9.

The man is charged by God to be the head of the wife. And this entails a willingness to give his life for her, regardless of if she is deserving of unconditional love or not. Headship also puts the man as being responsible for the spiritual state of his bride, and having to give an account for her sins against God, along with his own.  Paul continues to lay out God’s job description for the man.

“In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body.” Ephesians 5:28-30.

How does one love their own body? Just look at the lost world. We live in a society that  lives by the motto, “Me, myself, and I.” In our flesh, we want to magnify our flesh. And human nature is to care for our bodies. If we cut ourselves, we are quick to mend our wound. We desire to keep our bodies from any danger or harm. We nourish our bodies so that we extend our lives. Paul says that husbands are to love their wives as if they were an extension of their own flesh. No one in their right mind would dream of cutting off part of their body. In the same way, no man should ever dream of harming or severing ties with his wife. 

This is what Biblical male headship looks like. And to any woman that would object to this form of headship, I ask this question. If you have a man that loves you like Jesus and in the way that Paul has described in Ephesians 5, is submission really that big of a deal? Most woman that I know would gladly submit to a man who was willing to give his life for her and lead her deeper into the knowledge of God. 

This comes full circle to the topic of female pastors in the SBC. Christ is the head of His church. And he has commanded that men be the spiritual leader in order to reflect the headship of Christ over His church. Therefore, within the church, that same ordering applies. Men are given the task of leading the church spiritually. Paul wrote in Ephesians 5 that the man is the mirror image of Christ. 

Therefore the created ordering of headship is Christ, man, woman. Again, they are equal in value and dignity, but different in function and responsibilities. The man leads spiritually, the woman follows him as He bears the responsibility of leading after Christ. And this same ordering that we see in Genesis 3 and Ephesians 5 remains consistent in the ordering of God’s church. 

A woman that is leading a church spiritually as the pastor is assuming the role that God gave to the man. It is a distortion of the created order, and a perversion of the picture of the Gospel which we see in the scriptures. Contrary to what Rick Warren says, this is more than just a secondary issue. God has called the man to be the spiritual leader. And he has called the man to bear the responsibilities of this leadership to reflect the self denying sacrificial nature of Jesus Christ. 

That is why the issue of female pastors is a problem. That is why this is not an issue that we can just agree to disagree on. God’s ordering of His creation and His display of the Gospel imaged through marriage and His church is not something to be taken lightly. The creature does not have the right to redefine the creation. We don’t get to move the furniture that God has placed in the room just because we don’t like the arrangement. The church is not our house, it is HIS.  God has made men and women with differing strengths and different roles. And these roles are not for self elevation, but for God’s glorification. 

At it’s core, liberalism seeks to blur the lines of objective truth in the name of equality and unity. Proponents of liberal ideology use words as weapons, wielding them to play on the heart strings and consciences of anyone that would dare oppose their views. For example, no one wants to be labeled as oppressive. Yet the woke left champion themselves as defenders of equality and unity. Therefore, if anyone opposes their liberal views, then they are deemed an enemy of equality and unity. The only problem is that liberalism never clearly defines these words. Instead, they redefine them. 

All men and women were created equal by God. They are equal in value and dignity. But equality in kind does not equate to equality in function. God created men and women equal in value, but distinct in their gifts and abilities. Liberalism misuses words like equality to try and erase any differences at all between the sexes. In the eyes of liberalism, women should be able to do anything that men can do, and vice versa. And to believe otherwise is seen as unloving. Liberalism seeks to delete any of the distinctions in the God given roles of men and women. 

But along that line of thinking, as a man I cannot give birth. So according to their ideology, should I feel slighted in the equality department? Shouldn’t I be offended? Of course not! Why? Because God has created women differently than men with different, strengths, gifts, abilities, and responsibilities. Equal in value and dignity, different in function and responsibilities. 

If equality truly means to be the same in kind as well as function, then there would have been no reason for God to create two different sexes. He could have created one sex with the ability to do the job of both male and female. But that is not how the Lord created. God created two different sexes, male and female, with differing strengths and responsibilities so that their differences would serve to complement one another and glorify God.

It is one thing for the lost world to cast stones at the created order of God. But it is alarming when the church begins to adopt the language and ideals of the world. This is exactly what is happening within the Southern Baptist Convention. Our church pulled out of the convention last year after much prayer and many discussions due to the liberal trajectory of the SBC. However, I have no ill will or venom towards the SBC. I am continually praying that the Lord would lead the SBC back to right standing upon His Word. Even though I am no longer associated with the SBC, I am hopefully praying for them from afar.

Currently, the hot button topic that will be addressed within the convention is that of women preachers. Surprisingly, an overwhelming majority of churches and denominational leaders within the convention are siding with Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church in his fight to rectify his church’s standing within the convention and receive the SBC’s vote in favor of Baptist churches allowing women preachers. This issue will be brought to the floor of this year’s convention. 

Although I am not at the convention, I have been watching some of the sessions online. SBC president Bart Barber just finished preaching a sermon on how Christians should not focus so much on our differences and instead, look to what is lovely and good. Barber cited the instructions of the Apostle Paul in commanding believers to look upon what is good. 

It was not long in the sermon before President Barber connected the dots in his sermon. Barber stated that within a convention with so many churches, there are bound to be theological differences. Barber stated that instead of focusing so intently on those differences, churches should rejoice in the good things that the convention was doing. Then Barber mentioned the numerous missionaries that the convention sends each year around the world. Barber is correct in part. As Christians, we are to dwell on what is good. But we are also called to identify false teachers and confront those that distort Biblical doctrine. The latter does not appear to be a concern of Rick Warren or the leaders of the SBC.

Sending missionaries for Christ Is a good thing indeed, so long as those missionaries are not compromising the scriptures. And when you have a convention that is blatantly compromising the Bible in so many areas, it’s not a far stretch to say that some of the missionaries sent by the SBC will also hold to many of the same areas of compromise.

The message seems to be consistent within the convention. “Look at the good we are doing, and just overlook our departures from scripture.” The SBC frequently rallies around the slogan, “We’re Better Together.” My questions is, what is the SBC unified around? Better together around what? Good works? Sending missionaries that may or may not be teaching sound doctrine? Or is their goal to be first and foremost unified around the scriptures? Better together sounds great on the surface. But a great many churches have failed to ask what the source of the SBC’s idea of unity is centered upon.

Rick Warren publicly stated that he is not asking all Southern Baptists to agree with his egalitarian views of women preachers. He wrote that he is merely asking that the SBC give their approval to any SBC church that chooses to allow a woman to preach. Warren is asking the SBC to have more of an open door policy pertaining to this doctrine. But by Warren asking the SBC to accept the idea of women preachers, he is shifting the convention even farther away from standing firmly upon God’s Word. And just like most liberals, he is declaring war upon the created order of God.

Rick Warren is a social justice warrior. He is a Marxist. This is not hearsay or slander. Rick is very open about what he believes, and his statements foot the bill. In a recent letter Warren sent to churches in the SBC, he wrote, “In 1995, at the 150th annual meeting in Atlanta, there was another historic, Christ-honoring moment when Southern Baptists corrected a grievous historic evil by adopting the “Resolution on Racial Reconciliation.”In that humble resolution, Southern Baptists lamented and repented of the sin of slavery, repudiated racism, apologized to our African American brothers and sisters, and humbly asked for the process of reconciliation to begin.”

Southern Baptist’s repented of the sin of slavery? I certainly believe that the era of slavery in our world was a grievous evil. All men, regardless of ethnicity, were and are created equal. We are all one family together in Christ. But I can assure you that I have nothing to repent of in regards to slavery. I have never enslaved anyone in my entire life. I stand firmly against the injustices of racism in our world. So if a person is not a racist, what do they have to apologize for? 

If we are called to repent of the past sins of our fathers regarding racism, then why stop there? Then shouldn’t we also repent of the lies, adultery, fornications, and other transgressions against God and man committed by former generations? What ever happened to the belief that in Christ, all past sins are washed away? If that is so, then why does Warren and so many other liberal pastors call for Christians to continually look backwards and repent, as well as call for believers to make reparations for sins that they had no part in? 

I mention this because it sheds light upon the intentions of Rick Warren. His desire to have women preachers is not due to a heart felt conviction to remain true to the scriptures. Rather, it is his olive branch to the world. He is just kicking his liberal agenda further down the field. Warren’s compromises mirror exactly what we are currently seeing play out in the world of politics and culture. Women can be men. Men can be women. And as the narrative goes, to say otherwise is narrow minded. Pastor Warren’s beef is not with Christians who point out the difference roles and responsibilities of men and women. In reality, Rick Warren’s problem is with the God who created and instilled those differences within the DNA of the sexes. 

Defenders of Rick Warren’s call for women pastors in the SBC have regularly pointed to this verse in scripture to uphold their views. They claim that the verse mentions daughters prophesying, or proclaiming God’s word. But context is key when interpreting scripture.

“And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams;” Acts 2:17.

Peter said this when he preached before thousands at Pentecost. This was not in a church setting. And Peter was not talking about church polity or church structure. He was speaking generally regarding the call of all believers to be a royal priesthood in proclaiming, or prophesying, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Woman can absolutely teach others about Jesus. They can absolutely prophesy and proclaim the Gospel of Christ. They just cannot assume this role preaching over men in a church setting.

In contrast to the verse in Acts, Paul says this in 1 Timothy;

“I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet.” 1 Timothy 2:12.

Remember, proper interpretation requires knowledge of the context of the scripture in question. 1 Timothy was written by the Apostle Paul to a young pastor named Timothy. And Paul wrote to Timothy so that he would know how to teach people to conduct themselves in the house of God, the church.

“if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.” 1 Timothy 3:15.

1 Timothy is talking about the Lord’s ordering of the church in regards to headship, function, and roles. And just as in Paul’s Ephesians 5 instructions on the ordering of the marriage relationship where the man is commanded to be the spiritual head, representing Christ, the image and ordering of God is consistently the same in regards to the church. Women can teach other women and children in the church. But they are commanded not to exercise preaching authority over men in the church. Rather, in regards to preaching corporately over men and women, they are to remain quiet. Meaning they are not to teach. 

“And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.” Ephesians 4:11-12.

Pastor Scott Aniol made a very helpful observation in one of his recent blogs. He noted that the things mentioned by Paul in Ephesians 4:11-12 are not spiritual gifts, as men like Rick Warren would say. Rather, they are offices in God’s church. There is an ordering to God’s household. And men and women in churches have many different and distinct gifts. They are equal in value, but God made them different in function within the church. The Lord’s church body is made up of many different working parts that complement one another.

“If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”1 Corinthians 12:19-20.

Pastor Rick Warren references great female missionaries like Lottie Moon and Annie Armstrong as example of women preachers in hopes of defending his views. But Lottie Moon and Annie Armstrong were missionaries, not pastors of churches. They were teaching and proclaiming Christ, but not from a pulpit. Rick Warren elevates his liberal views by manipulating words, scriptures, and even Christian history in an attempt to play upon the ignorance of some so that his liberal narrative will advance. 

Rick Warren has written an open letter to SBC pastors, pleading with them to consider allowing women to preach in baptist churches. I have a message for the SBC and Rick Warren.

Repent.

Stop looking to the world for direction and guidance and look to the scriptures. Remember that we are not better together unless we are anchored to an objective truth. Your ways are not higher than God’s. Brothers and sisters, pray earnestly for the SBC this week. Pray that they would be unified, not around worldly ideologies, but upon the unchangeable anchor of God’s Word.

Two years ago I pinched a nerve in my back working out with my son. Truth be told, I was probably lifting much heavier than I should have been as I tried to keep up with him. The mind was willing, but the flesh was in it’s mid 40’s. For the next few months, I paid dearly for allowing my male ego to over take my common sense. Due to mistreating my body, major problems began to appear.

In the weeks after failing in my feat of strength, my feet began to go numb. Have you ever had you feet go to sleep on you? You know, that feeling of pins and needles when you sit in one place for too long? Well that is how my feet began to feel all the time. Even when I was walking, it was as if my feet were asleep. 

I went to the doctor and got an MRI of my spine. Sure enough, the results came back showing that I had a pinched nerve between one of my vertebra. But it was not as menial as a mere pinched nerve. The nerve was pinched because one of the disks on my spine was bulging and pressing down upon it. The compressed nerve was the cause of my sleeping feet. 

I began physical therapy in order to rectify the problem. Around the time of this diagnosis, I went to a pastors conference in Atlanta. There were thousands of pastors and ministry leaders at this event. Between one of the sessions, I went out into the lobby to grab something to eat. There were tons of people in the hall, and I spotted a good friend of mine that I had not seen in years. 

My buddy spotted me as well, and we began eagerly walking towards one another. Keep in mind, I still could not feel my feet at this time. And as I attempted to speed walk over to my friend, I ended up tripping over my dead feet. I fell literally flat on my face in front of my friend and the hundreds of other pastors who were walking that lobby at that time. 

I was mortified. After picking myself up and spending a few minutes catching up with my friend, I began to walk back to the hotel room. And it may sound crazy,  but I was actually furious with my feet! I felt totally embarrassed. And as I walked, I was stomping my feet on the ground trying to wake them up. I’ve never been angry at a body part, but on this day, my feet were my enemy.

I use this example to segway back to the topic of marriage, piggy backing on my post from yesterday. Marriage has been a subject that has really been on my heart for the past few weeks. Recently I have witnessed so many people that I personally know profess that they are ready to walk away from their marriages for one reason or another. They have a wrong view of marriage, and a faulty understanding of how we are to see our spouse. And in the decision to annul their marital union, they end up not only harming their spouse, but themselves as well.

Think back to the example I began with regarding my sleepy feet. Imagine that I was beyond angry at my feet. I was furious. Imagine that as I shared my tragic story with you, I said that I was so angry that I was ready to just cut my feet off. “These feet of mine have disappointed and embarrassed me for the last time. So because they no longer act like I want them to act, I’m just going to lop off these parts of my body. I’m better off in the long run without them.” I profess in front of you, “I hate my feet, so off they go.”

Listening to me, you would have to discern one of two things. Either I took too many of those funny little red pain management pills from my physical therapist. Or I had gone clinically insane. Because no person in their right mind would ever cut off a part of their body due to it displeasing or failing them.

Now with this crazy scenario in mind, read what the Apostle Paul writes about marriage….

“In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body.” Ephesians 5:28-30.

This is astonishing. God literally views marriage as two people becoming one flesh. Husband and wives are to care for one another in the same way that they would nurture for their literal bodies. Paul says that “No one ever hated his own flesh.” This is a common sense statement. Of course no one hates their flesh. We may get frustrated with our flesh at times. But again, I have never heard of a person hating a part of their flesh so much that they are willing to physically separate from it. Because it would leave them mutilated. They would no longer be whole.  

This is how the Lord views marriage. This is how God intended for us to view our spouses. The mentality in marriage should never be, “I’ll keep them around as long as I am satisfied.” Our personal, temporal, ever changing satisfaction plays no part in how God sees the union of a man and a woman. Quite literally, in God’s eyes they are one. 

No one ever hates their own flesh. And no one would ever sever a portion of flesh from their body due to their dissatisfaction. If a part of our bodies is not functioning properly, we don’t cut it off. We take steps to rectify the problem. We take steps to heal the wound, regardless of how much time it takes. 

Now imagine if husbands and wives valued their union together in this way. Separation of any kind would be inconceivable. Because they would rightly see themselves as one flesh. And because they would see themselves and their marriage through the lens of eternity. 

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.” Ephesians 5:31-32.

And as I wrote in yesterday’s blog, this mystery of marriage gets even more profound. Because it mirrors the image of Christ and His church. The church is the living bride of Christ. And we are collectively referred to as the body of Christ. Jesus sees His bride as actually being part of His body! Do you see it now?

You may say, “You have no idea how badly my spouse has hurt me!” But consider this; Each time you sin against God, it is a betrayal of His goodness and love towards you. How often do we put worldly things before Christ? Yet His promise to never forsake His bride is never shaken or swayed. Jesus views His bride as being His own body. 

In the same way as a husband and wife are joined together as one body. The church, Jesus bride, is called the body of Christ. And because of His unchanging promises to the church, Jesus would never cut off His bride. 

“Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” 1 Corinthians 12:27.

You may be asking, “How can I begin to love my spouse as Christ loves His church? How can I restore my desire to pour into my spouse? How can we restore love to relationship that has been neglected?” Here are some practical ways to begin to love your spouse as Christ has commanded.

First, begin to pray FOR your spouse.

Do not pray accusatory prayers towards your spouse. Pray genuinely that God would change you both from the inside out. Regardless of how you may feel towards them. Do not allow your feelings to lead your actions. Look to the example of Christ who chose to pray for His bride as He was hanging on the cross, dying for her sins against Him. 

“And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments.” Luke 23:34.

Pray WITH your Spouse.

Men, this is directed primarily towards you. It is our job to lead our wives. It is our God given duty to cover them with the Word of God. If you have never done this, it will most likely be awkward at first. I am a pastor, and I am used to praying in front of a crowd. It’s much more difficult to pray aloud over my wife. Because she knows me better than anyone. 

Praying over your spouse is one of the most intimate things that you could ever do together. Men, pray aloud over your wife that God would equip you daily to lead her to know and love Christ more. Pray for her heart, and pray for your heart. Pray that the Lord would knit you together in a way that mirrors the words of the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 5. 

Commit to a new practice in your home of praying together as husband and wife daily. Sometimes your prayers may be short and to the point. But other times, you will be amazed and the words that flow out of you. The more you pray together, the easier and more routine it will become. Be sure that you are both part of a local church under the teaching of scripture weekly. As your devotion to pray and follow Christ together grows, so will your love and affection for your spouse. 

You marriage is your garden. You get out of it what you put in. And if the garden goes through a time of drought, it only means that it’s time to start watering it with the Word of God. Water renews all things, especially the water of the word of God. A dry garden that is watered and nurtured will begin to grow.

“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,” Ephesians 5:25.

Tell your spouse that you love them daily.

Once more, do this irregardless of how your may be feeling towards them. Look again to the example of Christ, who chose to love in spite of the pain that was thrust upon Him due to her sins against Him. Remember, do not be led by your feelings. Let your choice lead your feelings, because they will follow. 

Put Your Spouse Above Yourself. 

Take time to meditation in the scriptures on the person and work of Jesus Christ. Consider how just one transgression should rightly place us under the wrath of God. And gaze upon the God man upon the cross who took upon Himself the full wrath of the Father. He took the punishment that we, His bride, deserved. He gave His earthly life for her. His bride was unlovable. And she had her face set against Him in her sins. As undeserving as Christ’s bride was, He put her needs before Himself to the point of death.

“But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5.

This is the way Jesus Christ loves His bride, the church. He does not hold a grudge. He does not consider past transgressions. 

“For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” Hebrews 8:12.

And Jesus is the one who took the first step towards reconciliation with His wayward bride. How does Jesus love His bride? Without condition, always willing and ready to forgive regardless of how tarnished with sin she may be. 

“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,” Ephesians 5:25.

Repent Before God and Your Spouse.

Stop looking at how your spouse has sinned against you, and instead begin to look at how you have sinned against them. Stop casting blame and instead extend grace. Ask the Lord in prayer to reveal to you the error of your ways as it pertains to your marriage. And then vow to set a course correction, without excuse. Once again, when your choice leads your actions, your feelings will follow. 

Husbands, we are commanded to love our wives as Christ has loved the church. In short, we are to readily be willing to give our lives for the sake of our bride. And feelings have nothing to do with the matter. This is what dying to self is all about. We read the portions of scripture about dying to self. Marriage is our opportunity to practice what we preach and see in scripture.

Wives are to love their husbands with the same unconditional love, submitting to their spiritual leadership as unto the Lord. However, there are times where the husband is not leading his wife spiritually. How can a wife follow and submit to a husband that is not leading her? Peter has given a word on how wives should conduct themselves when the husband is apathetic.

“Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, when they see your respectful and pure conduct.” 1 Peter 3:1-2.

Wives, love your husband without condition. Why? Because your decision to love them unconditionally may be what begins to change their heart. This may take time. It may take patience. But we look to the example of our Lord who was and is always patient with us in His love.

“And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him,” 2 Peter 2:15.

Look for opportunities to show your spouse that you love them.

Write them notes. Text them just to say “I love you.” Grab his or her hand randomly in public or just lounging on the couch. Make it a habit not to leave the house without kissing them goodbye. Other than your time with the Lord, let loving your spouse be one of the first things that comes to your mind each day. Create a longing in your heart to be gracious and compassionate towards them. Because this is how Jesus has loved you.

“Therefore the LORD longs to be gracious to you; therefore He rises to show you compassion, for the LORD is a just God. Blessed are all who wait for Him.” Isaiah 30:18.

Build a spiritual hedge of protection around your marriage. There was an evangelical fad in the early 90’s where Christians would wear WWJD (What Would Jesus Do) bands around their wrists. I think a better statement would be to consider and ask the question, “What Has Jesus Done?” Always look to the example to lead and guide you in your marriage. Let the selfless and sacrificial way that the Savior has loved you be your guide in loving your spouse. 

Glorify Christ Together

When you have a household where the husband and wife are putting one another’s needs above their own, that is the love of Christ on display. When you have a husband that is willing to give his life for his bride, that is the love of Christ on display. When you have a bride that desires to win her husband over with love regardless of his shortcomings, that is the love of Christ on display. 

A broken marriage disfigures and perverts the image of Christ and His church. God created marriage so that the Gospel would be put on physical display. Marriage is a picture of God’s love, promise, and commitment to His bride. No one ever hated their own flesh. In Christ, your spouse is as your own flesh. They are a part of you. And when husbands and wives love one another as Christ loves the church, it will build (or rebuild) a marriage that is stronger than any version of love that the world could ever imagine. By God’s grace, you will build a marriage that will stand the test of eternity for the glory of Christ.

On June fifteenth, my wife Lacy and I will celebrate our twenty first wedding anniversary. Twenty one years sounds like an eternity, but it seems like only yesterday when we were anxiously preparing to walk down the aisle together. I remember the nerves of that morning, and the way my heart felt as if it were going to pound out of my chest when she began to walk down the aisle towards me. I was nervous, excited, and a little bit panicked when I thought about all the people staring at us.

I have only one regret when I think back to the day that we were married. That I did not slow down and contemplate the vows that we spoke to one another. Honestly I was so nervous that reciting those vows was a blur. 

“For better or worse. For richer or poor. Until death do us part.”

These words are not just mantras. These words are weighty. Extremely weighty. Rarely do people take the time to consider the promises made to one another in the marriage ceremony. The proof of that claim are the sky rocketing divorce statistics that are increasing year by year at an alarming rate . 

For a great majority of married couples, when they repeat those sacred vows on their wedding day, they don’t really mean “for better or worse.” Rather, the new mentality is, “…until Im no longer happy.” And if husbands and wives have entered into a state of belief where happiness and feelings are the new standard of sustaining a marriage, then no union is safe anymore. Because happiness is a temporary feeling that can disappear as quickly as it comes. 

Those initial butterflies and warm fuzzy feelings that are so prevalent in the beginning stages of courtship are not enough to sustain a relationship for a lifetime. Like happiness, those feelings are temporal and can change in a moments notice. Whenever two sinners decide to devote their lives to one another, living together in close proximity, there will eventually be conflict. There will be trials. And there will be painful times of strife. To put it bluntly, the white picket fence marriage that is almost completely problem free, does not exist.

Far too often, I have witnessed husbands and wives break their marriage vows to one another due to ‘The Grass is Greener Syndrome.” This syndrome sets in like this; As the newness of the relationship begins to wear off, they start to notice glaring imperfections in their spouse. They begin to see areas where they may feel neglected in their marriage. And eventually, they may begin to look for fulfillment from someone other than their spouse. 

They look to someone that is not their spouse who may say the right things at that moment. Someone who makes promises of love, all the while exemplifying that they are perfectly fine with destroying a marriage built on those same promises. It is to buy into the delusion that “The Grass is greener on the other side.” But hear me when I say, the grass only looks greener…because you have not trampled it yet. The one constant in every relationship that you have, is you. The only reason one looks to greener grass is because you’ve not yet gotten close enough to the new field to see the weeds.

Our World Desperately Need a Gospel Centered View of Marriage

In every relationship, there will be imperfections and heartaches. But it is by the grace of God that he designed marriage to be imperfect. You read that correctly. An imperfect marriage is one of God’s greatest sanctifying tools. And when couples break their vows in marriage and see their commitment as being contingent upon their personal satisfaction, it is due to a misunderstanding of why God created marriage in the first place. Marriage is one of the most vibrant, beautiful pictures of the Gospel that we have in this world.

Consider this; God gave you a spouse that would at times be unlovable so that you would learn to love unconditionally. God gave you a spouse that would need forgiveness, so that you would learn how to forgive. God gave you a spouse that would require you to chose to love them, in spite of your feelings. And God did these things so that through marriage, you would become conformed to the image of Christ! 

We worship God for His unconditional love, but we place conditions on how we love others.

We worship God for His forgiveness, but we refuse to forgive.

We worship God for dying for our sins and promising to never leave us despite how we constantly sin against Him, but we are quick to break our promises as soon as we are left wanting.

You see, marriage is God’s tool to conform men and women into the very image of Christ. How can a person learn forgiveness if they never have to forgive? How can someone learn unconditional love if they are never put to the test? We easily forget that marriage is God’s way of His creation mirroring the love He has for His bride, the church.

A man once told me that he could not stay with his wife anymore. He said she was constantly letting him down, and he was no longer happy in their marriage. He said he didn’t “Feel” loving towards her anymore. I replied to this man by saying, “Aren’t you glad that Jesus doesn’t love you the way you love your wife?” I would be willing to bet that Jesus didn’t “Feel” like have nails driven through His hands and feet. He didn’t “Feel’ like having the skin ripped off of His back. Jesus did not have warm and fuzzies in His belly for His rebellious bride when He bore the full wrath of God for her countless sins against Him.

At any moment, Jesus could have called down a legion of angels to rescue Him from the torment of the cross. Jesus would have been completely justified if He would have condemned the whole human race. But because of His love for His bride, He gave His life for her transgressions. As He hung dying on the cross, Jesus prayed, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Jesus gave His life for a bride that was rebellious, adulterous, and at times wayward towards Him. But His covenant promise was not built upon how he felt from moment to moment. His love was rooted in His sovereign choice of His bride.

On the cross, Jesus exemplified that love is not a feeling nor is it based on externals. Love is a choice. The world’s definition of love is based on feelings. And love that is led by emotions is as secure as a house of cards in the wind. But Godly love is rooted in making a daily decision to honor the promise, the vows, that were spoken at the marriage ceremony. And those vows are a reflection of the eternal promise we have in Christ. Godly love says, “I’m not going anywhere, even in hard times.”

When feelings lead our choices, and when feelings begin to fade, so will the commitment. But when we choose to love our spouse regardless of the circumstance, our feelings will follow that choice. When the grass in your marriage is no longer green, it only means it’s time to water it. 

Marriage teaches us to love like Jesus. Marriage teaches us to love in a way that is uncommon to the world. The love of a Christian is selfless. It is sacrificial. And when husbands and wives show this kind of love to one another, they display to the world a picture of how Jesus Christ loves His bride. 

The vows that are spoken in marriage are a reflection of the eternal promises we have in Christ. In the Gospel, Jesus says to His bride, “I will never leave or forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). Even though we constantly sin against Him, He will not abandon or cast aside us as His bride. He will not break His vows. Husbands and wives; this is how we were called to love one another. And when we do this, we stand united as a reflection of the Gospel to the world around us. If you truly want to be like Christ, love your spouse. For better or for worse. Regardless of condition. Always eager to forgive. Just as Christ has always forgiven you. And from this will grow a depth of love with and for your spouse that you may have never thought possible.

“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.” Ephesian 5:25-32.